Allison Miller

Cary Fowler warns of headwinds for global food security—but sees solutions in St. Louis  | St. Louis Magazine Cary Fowler has been compared to the Biblical figure Noah, and he admits the analogy makes sense. The Memphis native is known as the father of the so-called

We had the honor of hosting Cary Fowler at the Danforth Center in St. Louis this week! It was a standing room only crowd for a sobering but inspiring conversation about global food security. You can read more about it here www.stlmag.com/news/cary-fo... . Thank you to host @sarahfenske.bsky.social!

Graphic for ""A Day for BSA"" on August 27, 2025, featuring a photo of Jacob Suissa, a man with short dark hair, a beard, and a friendly smile, wearing a black jacket over a white shirt. The background is green. A quote reads: ""My undergraduate research professor David Barrington sent me to the 2016 Botany conference in Savannah, Georgia, and my life was changed. After meeting the members of BSA, hearing the amazing research everyone does, and feeling safe and welcomed in a new space, I knew which career path I wanted to pursue. It brings me so much joy to now bring my own students to Botany."" The quote is attributed to Jacob Suissa. At the bottom is the BSA circular logo for “A Day for BSA” and the text: Give to the BSA Endowment Today!

Jacob Suissa's career path was solidified after experiencing his first Botany Conference in 2016. Today, he brings his own students to experience the same inspiration. Celebrate #ADayforBSA by supporting the Endowment and inspire the next generation of botanists!

crm.botany.org/civicrm/cont...

Please join me in supporting the Botanical Society of America!

Seeds of Change is two weeks away! 🌾 Join us on August 27 for an evening with global food security leader, Dr. Cary Fowler. Free to attend, with in-person and virtual viewing options available. Reserve your spot: bit.ly/4faVwSc
#STLEvents #FoodSecurity

Map of Mexico, Central, and South America, with the text: “Authors in Latin America receive special discounts when they publish in Applications in Plant Sciences.” The APPS and Botanical Society of America logos are in the bottom corners.

Please spread the word! Authors based in Latin America receive discounts from 35-100% when they publish in #AppsPlantSci, thanks to Wiley's Open Access Pricing Power Parity Pilot (OAPPP Pilot).

Discover your discount at authorservices.wiley.com/author-resou... #OpenAccess #SocietyJournal #botany

We planted a new vineyard aimed at studying rootstock x scion x environment interactions over time in clonally propagated plants - check out this cool video of our work!

And here’s how to help, or find help, after St. Louis tornado (free article) www.stltoday.com/news/local/m...

PLANTS scholars and PLANTS Advisors during Botany 2024 (Grand Rapids, MI)

PLANTS scholars and PLANTS Advisors during Botany 2023 (Boise, ID)

PLANTS scholars and PLANTS Advisors during Botany 2022 (Anchorage, AK)

PLANTS scholars and PLANTS Advisors during Botany 2018 (Rochester, MN)

Help BSA raise funds to support the PLANTS program! NSF terminated our award, but our community is stepping up!

Donate today to support a leadership & mentoring program that supports the next generation of plant scientists!
#SupportPLANTS

botany.org/.../plants-g...
crm.botany.org/makeadonation

On Friday, my son stayed home from school because he had a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well. He went with my husband to his office for the morning while I handled our daughter. When he came back at lunch, he was not interested in eating, saying his throat hurt too much. 1/n

Key paragraph of letter: We believe these challenges can be met, but not with the draconian budget plan and staffing reductions just released by OMB. Such a budget would thwart scientific progress, decimate the research workforce, and take a decade or more to recover. Achieving the President’s vision requires a major enhancement of the NSF budget, ideally a doubling of the FY25 level over the next few years and sufficient staff to execute this vision. In the current political climate, we know this is a bold request. We make it, nonetheless, to say -- if we truly wish to realize this vision, we must commit to a historic investment in fundamental research and education in a manner that leaves no doubt about the United States’ intentions with our international competitors. We face a fork in the road. Do we want to win or concede the race for new knowledge and a competitive STEM workforce? For 75 years winning that race has been the foundation of American prosperity and national security. Adopting the proposed cuts would fast-track China’s plans for technological dominance. As Senator Todd Young said in his March 25th Washington Post op-ed, “…Our policymakers should lock arms with the science-and-technology dreamers and doers across the country — from Silicon Valley to the Silicon Prairie — and recognize that basic research isn’t a federal handout to help sustain academia. Instead, it is a vital ingredient in our innovation future, economic and geopolitical competitiveness, and national security.”

signatures of past NSF directors and NSB chairs

In light of the skinny budget (55.8% reduction), 6 past NSF directors and 7 NSB chairs have sent the House Committee on Appropriations a letter advising doubling the NSF budget.

"We face a fork in the road. Do we want to win or concede the race for new knowledge and a competitive STEM workforce?"

Proud BSA treasurer here - I’ll be there!

A Taste of the Forbidden Fruit - Ambrook Research Banned by the federal government a century ago, black currants were cast to the fringes of U.S. agriculture. Agroforestry advocates and berry connoisseurs are urging a revival.

“I don’t think this plant is a lost cause,” said Lily Hislop @currantlylily.bsky.social, who runs the only institutionally backed #blackcurrant breeding program in the West at the Savanna Institute.

#Blackcurrants showing up in Ambrook Research!
ambrook.com/research/cro...
@jessehirsch.bsky.social

Went on my first baby run yesterday after two surgeries to deal with a torn meniscus last year. It was sooooooooooooo nice to be back out there! I even caught a glimpse of my very favorite heron - the little blue heron. 🐦

Uncovering ‘terroir’: Project to explore plant-environment interactions | Cornell Chronicle A Cornell grape geneticist is leading a $2.3 million multi-institutional project to understand how genetically identical grapevines are influenced by varying environmental conditions in three states.

It’s scary to be excited these days but I’m proud of our collaborative team and this new project to understand grafting and environmental variation effects on grapevine rootstock and scion epigenomics in vineyards across the Eastern US. @ajmiller4233.bsky.social
news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...

A colorful promotional image for International Plant Appreciation Day on April 13, 2025, by the Botanical Society of America. The top text reads “International Plant Appreciation Day, April 13, 2025.” The middle text reads “Make an Unrestricted Gift to the Botanical Society of America to stand up for science!” A QR code and the Botanical Society of America logo are included.

🌱 Stand Up for Science 🌿
Support BSA with an unrestricted gift on International Plant Appreciation Day! Your donation gives us the flexibility to respond to funding cuts and other emerging challenges.

💚 Give today: crm.botany.org/makeadonation
💚 Share your story with #LetsGoPlants and #IamaBotanist

Join me in supporting the Botanical Society of America today - on International Plant Appreciation Day!

Registration is now open! Let's come together! Botany 2025 – Botany without Barriers taking place in Palm Springs, California, July 26-30 is the place to collaborate with our community, share our research, and support each other. Here are a few updates: Registration is now open! Abstract submission is open until April 14, 2025 Get to know Plenary Speaker Lúcia G. Lohmann and other Featured Speakers Explore Workshops, Symposia, Colloquia, Hotel and Travel, Contributed Session Topics, Affinity Groups and more! Learn about exhibiting and sponsorships You can always find the most up-to-date information on the conference website (www.botanyconference.org).

#Botany2025 let's gooooooooooo

Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds? Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.

“the N.P.G.S. budget is shoestring and its staffing minimal…And yet, with a trivial investment of 0.000008 percent of the federal budget, N.P.G.S. scientists quietly enable and safeguard our food system, worth around $1.5 trillion. Talk about return on investment.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...

Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds? (Gift Article) Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.

0.000008% of the federal budget.

And utterly, irreplaceably, priceless.

Perennial grain crops are here among us no longer a pipedream- thanks Malawi and China leading the way with civil society #thelandinstitute new options for farmers #savesoil family nutrition long lived roots+MO rewiring N P cycles #agrecology @vimbayic.bsky.social #PowellMponela @cimmyt.bsky.social

Our view of plants is expanding thanks to @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social’s team and our @advbioimaginglab.bsky.social. They’ve developed ExPOSE, a technique that enlarges plant cells for clearer imaging. This low-cost, high-res method is a promising breakthrough for plant research: loom.ly/STSKKuA

Pathways to a Perennial Future perennial grains meeting at CIMMYT in Texcoco, Mexico, co-hosted by the Land Institute

Root research through the years - the foundation of agricultural sustainabilty yet still so understudied! The hidden half is key to #savesoil, #climateaction, lets go root biologists! Which type of root systems are good for perennial crops?

This week I am attending the “Pathways to Perennjal Future” International meeting at CIMMYT near Mexico City. Learn more about why I think perennial grains have a role to play in the future of agriculture in myTEDx St. Louis talk.

The February issue of #AJB is here!! The opposite of #doomscrolling!!
#SocietyJournal #PlantJoy
#IAmABotanist

Historic manioc genomes illuminate maintenance of diversity under long-lived clonal cultivation Manioc—also called cassava and yuca—is among the world’s most important crops, originating in South America in the early Holocene. Domestication for its starchy roots involved a near-total shift from ...

Plant genomics in @science.org this week:
Sequencing manioc/cassava genomes shows few geographic genetic signatures and instead Indigenous farming practices have driven dispersal of this clonally propagated crop
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

My professional society @botsocamerica.bsky.social hosted listening session. While ending, a comment brought me unexpected & enormous amount of comfort:"BSA as a society is more than 100 years old and has weathered many storms. This is just one of them. We will get through it and be better."

Bog ecosystems are carbon storage powerhouses, and scientists believe that sphagnum moss may be their secret weapon. At the Danforth Center, Sona Pandey, PhD, and her lab are taking a closer look.

Dive into the full story via Northern Public Radio: loom.ly/QtSLLtQ

2025 Black History Month: Black Plant Scientists Spotlight | Plantae An initiative originated by Kevin Cox Jr., PhD, Plantae carries on Kevin’s tremendous effort of bringing visibility to several exceptional scientists and their work across the science community.

Every February, @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social puts together a list honoring one Black plant scientist for each day of #BlackHistoryMonth. Read his full article via @plantaeofficial.bsky.social and meet all 28 scientists: loom.ly/AMg1m_4

Set it at Six: Supporting Civil Society in Need with Increased Giving

Thank you for this wonderful news!! www.macfound.org/press/perspe...